Detachable and interchangeable tread for footwear.



A. W. POUGHER.

DETACHABLE AND INTERCHANGEABLE TREAD FOR FOOTWEAR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, 1916.

1,236,85U. Patented Aug. 7,1917.`

` assenso.

TNTTEB STATE@ PATENT FFT@F,

ARTHUR WILLIAM POUG-HER, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

DETACHABLE AND INTERCHANGEABLE TREAID FOR FOOTWEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. "Z, i917.,

Application filed. April 24, 1916. Serial No. 93,308.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ARTHUR WILLIAM POUGHER, subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland, residing at 14 Long Millgate, Manchester, in thecounty of Lancashire, England, commercial manager, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Detachable and Interchangeable Treads forFootwear, of which the following is a specification.

My inventionrelates to an improved form of detachable sole and heeladapted to be readily securedin place upon boots, shoes or the like,each sole being made interchangeable and secured to the boot, shoe, orthe like in such a manner as to enable the wearer or any other person toreadily detach the old sole and to aiiix a new one to the boot withoutnecessitating the use of any tools.

My invention is particularly applicable to boots for military purposesin which the sole and -heel are subject to rough usage and wear rapidly7and where diiiiculty in obtaining repairs in the ordinary way would beexperienced, whereas with my improved invention the wearer could quicklymake the repair himself. v

According to my invention, the boot, shoe or other article of footwearis'provided with a suitable light sole in the ordinary manner. This soleis of a sufficiently strong construction to be substantially waterproof,and suitable guides or guideways are secured on the underside of thissole to engage in a slide or groove in the upper surface of a detachablesole-piece which is adapted to be slid thereon to secure the sole-piecein position in such a manner that while it is securely fixed in positionduring use, it may be readily detached and replaced by another when ithas worn out or become otherwise unserviceable. The detachablesole-piece butts against a stop upon the permanent sole of the boot,shoe, or the like so as to register it in position when it has beencorrectly affixed to the boot. In order to prevent the detachablesole-piece from creeping on the permanent sole of the shoe, suitablefixing means may be employed to maintain them in their relativepositions. For this purpose one or more screws, nails or the like may bepassed through both soles so as to register them in their relativepositions or simple clips may be provided to be driven into the edges ofthe soles for the same purpose.

l The guides or guideways may be conveniently made of india-rubber,reinforced by embedding in their surface during the process of moldingor otherwise forming them suitable lengths or layers of wire gauze,canvas, metal strips or other convenient material which `while allowingthe required resilience or flexibility to enable the detachable sole tobe readily secured in position, will also provide the necessarydegree ofstrength to resist the strains to which they may be subjected, while atthe same time not imparting too great a rigidity to the sole of theboot.

The detachable soles may be provided with heel pieces secured thereon,but in a modification the heel-piece and fore-part of the sole may beseparate parts adapted to be independently secured to the permanent soleof the boot in the same manner as has already been described inconnection with the complete sole.

In order that my invention may be more readily understood, reference ishad to the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is an elevation of aboot showing `the T-shaped strips secured upon the permanent sole of thesame.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the boot sole with the removablewearing element attached thereto.

Fig. 3 is a plan of same with the permanent sole of the boot removed andFig. 4 is a cross section to a larger scale, of the toe part of the bootshown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings AI employ a pair of guideways l, 2, securedupon the permanent sole 3 of the boot 4, the guideway 1 being attachedbeneath the forepart and the guideway 2 beneath the heel-part of thepermanent sole 3. These guidevvays 1 and 2 comprise squat T-shapedpieces secured to the permanent sole 3 of the boot 4 by rivets or pins 5so as to leave a groove or space 6 between their outer edges 7 and thepermanent sole 3. The outer edges 7 of these T-shaped pieces engage in alongitudinal groove 8 in the detachable sole 9 to be secured to the boot4 and a longitudinal slot 10 in the upper face of the detachable sole 9is provided to accommodate the central portion 11 of the T-shapedstrips 1. The detachable sole 9 is shown built up of a number of layersof leather to form the lower or wearing surface 12 which may be providedwith any suitable protective devices such as iron or steel studs, platesor the like. To the upper face of this wearing portion 12 of the sole 9are secured a pair of strips 13 at each side, leaving between them thespace 8 substantially equal to the maximum width of the side members 7of the guideways 1 and 2 on the permanent sole 3 of the boot 4 and overthese side strips is secured a further layer of leather or othersuitable material 14 having the longitudinal slot 10 therein. Thesetogether form an undercut or inverted T-slot in the detachable. sole 9,which is adapted to engage over the T-shaped strips 1 and 2 on thepermanent sole 3. The detachable sole 9 is applied to the boot 4 byengaging the forward end of the `Tshaped strip 1 on the forepart of theboot 4, in the T-slot in the detachable sole 9 and sliding the sole 9endwise until the heel end thereof engages against abutment 15 at theheel of the boot 4, in which position it is secured by passing a screwor nail through the heel 19 into this abutment 15, or some other portionof the detachable sole 9 and permanent sole 3. In Figs. 3 and 4 areshown a series of staple shaped clips 16 which engage with both thedetachable sole 9 and permanent sole 3.

The longitudinal groove 8 formed by the strips 13 and-the longitudinalslot 10 in the layer 14 on the. detachable sole 9, are preferablystopped near the toe of the sole 9 at 18 at which point they are adaptedto engage against the front of the T-shaped strips 1 and 2 which willprevent the two portions of each from separating when subjected to roughusage.

The guideways or strips 1 and 2 upon the underside of the detachablesole 9 of the boot 4 preferably comprise reinforced strips of rubber'ofthe desired T or other section secured by means of the rivets or pins 5to the permanent sole 3. The strips 1 and 2 are conveniently reinforcedby embedding in their surface during manufacture, lengths or layers ofwire gauze 17 which while allowing the required resilience orflexibility to enable the sole 9 to be readily attached in position uponthe T-shaped strips 1 and 2, will also provide the necessary degree ofstrength to resist strains to which they may be subjected, while at thesame time not imsole, a detachable sole comprising a numberA of layers,a narrow longitudinal slot having arallel sides in the upper layer, abroader ongitudinal slot having parallel sides in the layer beneath theupper one so as to form together a slot into which the inverted T'-shaped guideways may be slidably engaged and a series of staple shapedclips one end of which is engaged in the edge of the permanent sole andthe other end of which is engaged in the edge. of the detachable treadso as to secure the latter in position.

2. In a detachable and interchangeable tread for footwear, a permanentsole, at least one inverted T-shaped guideway of resilient materialhaving parallel edges, secured to the permanent sole, a' detachable-soleco1nprising a number of layers, a narrow longitudinal slot havingparallel sides in the upper layer, a broader longitudinal slot havingparallel sides in the layer beneath the upper one so as to form togethera slot into which the inverted T-sliaped guideways may be slidablyengaged and a series of staple clips one end of which is engaged in theedge of the permanent sole and the other end of which is engaged in theedge of the detachable tread so as to secure the latter in position.

3. In a detachable and interchangeable tread for footwear, a permanentsole, flexible inverted T-shaped guideways `having parallel edgessecured to the underside of the permanent sole one beneath the forepartand one beneath the heel, strips of reinforcing material embedded in theT-shaped guideways, a space between the two guideways beneath theinstep, a detachable `sole comprising` a number of layers, a narrowlongitudinal slot in the upper layer, and a broader longitudinal slot inthe layer beneath the upper one so as to form an undercut lT-slot inwhich the T-shaped guideways may be slidably engaged, and a series ofstaple shaped clips one end of which is engaged in the permanent soleand the other in the detachable tread so as to secure the latter inposition.

ARTHUR WILLIAM POUGHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Eatents,

Washington, D. C.

